Lawmakers in the House are expected to overwhelmingly pass
new legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit the Obama administration
from facilitating the sale of U.S. aircraft to Iran, according to senior
congressional sources who told the Washington Free Beacon that
Iran is likely to use American-made planes to rebuild its aging air force.

The legislation is
viewed as an early test for the incoming Trump administration, which has
broadly opposed last year’s comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran and
intimated that it would be more confrontational with the Islamic Republic.

Senior congressional sources told the Free Beacon that
House leaders scheduled the vote on this bill immediately following the
election to signal that lawmakers are frustrated with the Obama
administration’s ongoing diplomacy with Tehran.

If approved, the new bill would bar the Obama administration
from granting legal exemptions to corporations such as Boeing, which is working
to finalize a multi-billion dollar landmark deal with Iran. The Obama
administration has already vowed to veto the legislation.

“The American people gave us a mandate to fight radical
Islamic terrorism. Preventing aircraft sales to the world’s leading terror
state is a pretty good start,” said one senior GOP aide familiar with the
legislation. “Clearly this is a top priority for House Republicans—we are
making this the first bill we put on the floor after the election. The
Boeing-Iran sale is a great opportunity for President-elect Trump to claim an
early national security win.”

Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), a vocal critic of the nuclear
deal and Iran’s continued military buildup, told the Free Beacon that
Republican House lawmakers will easily pass the legislation.

“It’s no secret I’ve been a vocal critic of the Iran deal—it
was a horrible idea at the time and it has proven even worse as we’ve learned
about secret side deals and more unilateral concessions to the Mullahs,” Roskam
said. “But even those who supported the [nuclear deal] should support this
bill. Nothing in the Iran deal obligates the U.S. to allow American banks to
finance the Islamic Republic’s efforts to rebuilt its air fleet.”

The Obama administration said in a statement late Monday
that the legislation would interfere with the United States’ ability to uphold
its end of the nuclear deal, which includes guarantees that Iran would be able
to access the U.S. marketplace for commercial aircraft.

“The bill would undermine the ability of the United States
to meet our JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] commitments by
effectively prohibiting the United States from licensing the sale of commercial
passenger aircraft to Iran for exclusively civil end uses, as we committed to
do in the JCPOA, and seeking to deter companies from pursuing permissible
business with Iran,” the White House said in a statement.

Critics of the administration’s position have pointed to
evidence that Iran has a history of converting civilian planes for use in its
air force and military.

The Free Beacon in Octoberdisclosed
several instances in which U.S.-made airplanes purchased by Iran in the 1970s
had been used by Iran’s military.

Roskam told the Free Beacon at the time
that there was reason to expect Iran would make similar use of any
new planes it purchased from Boeing, which did not respond to a request for
comment on the new legislation.

“We should not be surprised to see Iran’s latest military
demonstrations feature Boeing 747s,” Roskam said. “It is incredibly
irresponsible for any American company to sell products to the Islamic Republic
that can easily be used for military purposes.”

“This is not hypothetical,” Roskam said. “We know the
military has requisitioned Boeing planes from Iran Air in the past. Boeing is
literally enhancing the military capabilities of the world’s leading state
sponsor of terrorism.”

Adam Kredo is senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon. Formerly
an award-winning political reporter for the Washington Jewish Week,
where he frequently broke national news, Kredo’s work has been featured in
outlets such as the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, and Politico, among others. He lives in Maryland with
his comic books. His Twitter handle is @Kredo0. His email address
is kredo@freebeacon.com.

“How stands the city on
this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight
years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands
strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter
what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have
freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through
the darkness, toward home.”

—Ronald Reagan,
Farewell Address, January 11, 1989

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